Perfect Insanity Inception
by anchors and arrows
Summary: Ariadne's dead, and her sister is now caught in the middle of the world of shared dreaming
1. Chapter 1

**Summary **When he team finds Ariadne dead, her sister is the second best they could find. But what Arthur didn't expect, was to fall face first into a romance.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inception. I do however, own Callista (Callie) and Briton (To be seen in future chapters).

The team hasn't heard from Ariadne in months. Separating for about two months after a job is not uncommon, but it's been five months since her first job. No one from the team was completely sure she was okay. Cobb had sent Arthur and Eames to go check in on her. They were both happy to be able to go see her again, they both had a small thing for her, and however, it wasn't anything worth pursuing. She was too small to be looked at as a woman and to intelligent to be looked at as a girl. It was a complex situation that was not worth the headaches.

"How do you suppose she's been holding up?" Eames asked as they strolled the Parisian streets leading to Ariadna's small apartment.

"I'm not quite sure. She did quite fine once we got to the states. She slept through the night without a problem." Arthur wasn't sure how their young architect was doing, but as they came closer to the apartment building, they saw a young girl with long loose curls in her hair. She had a suitcase next to her, and a book in her hands as they rested on waist high pants and a lace t-shirt.

"Excuse us." Eames said politely as they stepped around her she nodded and moved so they could get past. They rang her bell and waited for an answer. They heard the girl dialing something on her phone and waited in silence for the door to answer.

"Hey Ari." The girl said in a sweet voice. "It's Calli… again. I'm at your apartment and I'm just wondering where the hell you are. Anyway, call me back when you get this. Bye." Eames and Arthur shared a confused look and focused on the girl again.

"You're not looking for Ariadne Willows are you?" Arthur asked.

The young girl turned to face him and it seemed as though the girl shared a similar resemblance of the architect. "I am. She's my sister. And you are?" She asked standing up on the lower step. At this moment, Arthur remembered that Ariadne mentioned a sister. Callista or Calli as Ariadne called her. She was her older sister by a year, but they were the best of friends. She was an interior design student, with a background in architecture, studying in Italy.

"Well, I'm Eames Wilson, and this gangly fellow is Arthur Dennen. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." Eames said holding his hand to her. She reached out to shake it, but instead got the back of her hand kissed.

"Ari said you tried too hard to be suave and debonair." She said taking her hand back and pushing her bangs back with the other. Arthur laughed and took a hand out of his pocket to shake hers.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Ariadne mentioned you quite a lot in the time we spent with her." Arthur admitted.

"Yes, she mentioned the two of you quite a bit. She really does enjoy working with you."

"Well, we enjoy her presence as well. Unfortunately, we started a new project and we haven't been able to get in contact with her."

"You and me both" Callie laughed. "We planned for my visit months ago, and now she's not here. I can't get in touch with her, and I'm not so good at French, so I can't even begin to search for her."

"Do you believe Fisher could have caught on?" Eames asked Arthur quietly. Calli looked between the two gentlemen as they spoke.

"I'm not sure, but we should check. Calli, I must apologize for what we are about to do. It's a terrible first impression, but it must be done." Arthur said politely to her. Calli stuck her hands into her pockets and looked at him strangely. They pressed buttons hoping someone would unlock the door and they would go to Ariadne's apartment. Luckily they were let in and Calli had the correct address.

They found a key hidden in a potted plant near the next door neighbor's door. Callie unlocked it and the boys led the way in, prepared to pull their weapons at a given notice. Calli pulled her bags inside the apartment behind them, and took in the way her sister lived. It was a small apartment, big enough for a student, large enough for a couple. The walls were bare and an old couch sat in front of a television set and stereo system. The guys began to walk around the apartment and Calli wandered the apartment on her own.

She walked towards the back of the apartment, and saw a room that must have been her bedroom. There was an awful smell coming from the room, and Calli guessed that her sister had left meat out while attempting to eat in bed. It wouldn't have been the first time Ariadne did that. Calli opened the door and her heart dropped to her stomach. A heart wrenching scream came from her mouth as she saw what was inside the bedroom.

Ariadne was lying in her bed, still in her pajamas, with a bullet wound in her temple. She seemed to be peacefully at sleep as she had passed, but Calli's world stopped. She began to run to her sister, but someone was holding her back. Calli tried fighting Arthur off as best she could, but he was still stronger than her.

"Calli, listen to me please." He picked her up and pulled her away from the bedroom. Calli tried fighting with him to let her go. She tried to run around him to get to her sister. It was no use. After a few minutes, she broke down and Arthur pulled her close. Unintentionally, she fell to her knees as the tears cascaded down her face. Her best friend was gone. There was no way that this could be happening. Who would want to kill the most wonderful person in the world?

Arthur went down with her and continued to try and soothe her.

"She'll have to come with us." Eames said coming out of the room.

"Cobb's not going to be happy."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Calli asked backing away from Arthurs grip. Arthur's heart palpitated a bit at the look of the young woman in front of him. She was beautiful, even if she was close to losing it all. "I'm NOT going with you, I don't even KNOW you! For all I know, you could have killed her!"

"We didn't kill her but, we might know who did." Arthur said trying to put his hands on her arms to calm her, but she inched away more and more.

"We can't just leave her here. We have to call the police."

"Alright, Arthur, you take her back to Cobb, I'll deal with the police. They're probably on the way from neighbors hearing her scream." Arthur nodded and he put his arm around Calli to lead her away from the scene. He picked up her bag and began to wheel it behind him, with the young girl at his side.

"What did you and my sister do, that she is now dead?" Calli asked nervously as Arthur was leading her through the streets of Paris.

Arthur took a deep breath and looked around at the town they were at. He decided to tell her. If she was going with him, she deserved to know the truth about her sister.

"Your sister, and a few others, myself, and Eames, were part of a plan called Inception. We are if you may, secret extractors and we enter people's dreams and pull their deepest secrets out of their mind. However, instead of stealing an idea, we planted one. The person we planted the idea in, quite possibly found out and sent people to find us."

"So, if they found Ariadne, why should I trust you? You're in the same amount of danger as she was." She said pulling away from his body.

"Because I am more skilled than she was. I've been doing this for a long time, and I will get you away and make sure you are safe."

"Where are we going?" She asked settling back into the grip Arthur had on her. He answered all the questions that she posed to him, with what seemed like honesty. Calli's head felt like it was being crushed, and she wasn't exactly sure as to what else to do.

"My place. We'll contact Cobb, our main extractor and we will get out of here."

"Where are we going after that?"

"Stateside." Calli and Arthur made their way to his upscale Parisian condo and he made her tea once he confirmed that the area was safe.

"I have to call my brother." She said once she sat down.

"No. Not yet. We have to get you into the states." Arthur said dialing Cobb's number.

"But he's my brother; he should know that our sister is dead!"

"Cobb! Something's come up. Is everything okay over there?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Who is that talking in the background?"

"Ariadne's sister. Ariadne's been killed."

"How do you have her sister?"

"She was with us when we found her body."

"Damn it." Cobb whispered. "Does she know?"

"Yes."

"Okay, bring her to your place in the states. We'll take care of everything and begin to teach the sister. If I remember right, she's an interior designer and architect. We'll need her."

"What if she doesn't agree?"

"Bring her stateside and let her decide on her own."

"Will do." They hung up and Arthur put his phone on the table.

"Callista, I'm going to go pack and we'll go to the states."

"What about Ariadne?"

"Eames will call when everything has been prepared. He has a way of being suave with endevors, instead of with women." Calli smiled and looked at her tea.

"I'll be in the other room if you need anything."

"Thank you." She whispered. Calli sat in the other room silently sipping her tea, looking at the lavish lifestyle Arthur lead. It was defiantly a unique apartment, and he had very good taste in Calli's opinion. It seemed to only have taken ten minutes for Arthur to pack three bags and fix his appearance to a suitable standard. Calli barely had time for her tea to cool when Arthur was ready to flea his apartment.

"Shall we?" He asked looking at her.

"Where would you like the mug?" Calli asked standing with the mug still in her hands.

"I'll take it into the kitchen for you." He said putting the suitcase down. He took it from her and walked it into the kitchen. There was something about this girl that made him floozy, so much more so than how Ariadne could. He had only known this woman for perhaps an hour, and something was already drawing him to her. Perhaps it was the fact that she was such a mix between himself and Ariadne that it was the perfect combination. She had the same mannerisms as Ariadne, with the same professionalism and grace Arthur posses.

"I don't have a plane ticket to get to the states." Calli said almost shamed. She was looking down at her rings, twisting the plain silver ring on her first finger.

"I know. I have it covered." Arthur said almost smiling at her. He held his hand out to her and she grabbed her bags, walking ahead of him. He locked the apartment's main entrance and they proceded to make their way to the airport.

"I'm not exactly sure if I should be afraid of you or completely trust you." Calli admitted as they walked.

"Well, do you trust your sister?"

"I thought I did."

"Would you trust her if she was the one who explained all this to you?" Callista thought about it for a moment before nodding her head.

"I would."

"Then believe me when I say that I'm not the one to be afraid of. I'm the one protecting you." She smiled slightly and they made their way into the airport.

"Mr. Dennen, how are you?" A woman greeted him at the desk.

"Very well, thank you." he sighed "I would like two tickets to Seattle, first flight out."

"Of course. The plane shall depart once you have been seated."

"When will that be?"

"Your flight is boarding now." The young woman said handing him two tickets. Arthur thanked the woman and handed Callista a ticket. She put it inside her satchel and followed Arthur as they made their way through the airport.

At security, they allowed Arthur right through. Calli was in shock when they just let her go through as well. There was no need to search her, but it was a bit alarming for her. When she handed the ticket to the gate, she was welcomed and shown to a first class cabin. It was a seven forty seven flight.

"Oh my god, Arthur. I have no idea how I'm going to pay you back." She said stopping at the hallway before they took a seat.

"Don't even begin to worry about it." Arthur laughed. He took her bag and put it up top for her.

The flight began and Calli felt like she was going to pass out. She lost herself in the view from her window.

"Callista." She heard Arthur's voice. She turned and saw that he had a pen and pad in his hand.

"You know you can call me Calli. Callista is such an old name." She laughed at her own name. Arthur nodded and he gave a thin smile and it showed his dimples.

"Calli, I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" Calli asked confused.

"I need you to draw a maze that will take someone two minutes to solve when you have one to make it."

"Why?"

"Because Cobb believes that you could do just as good a job as your sister did."

"What do you mean? I'm not an architect. Whatever she did, I'm not half as good as she was."

"But you're an interior designer with a background in architecture. If anything, you could do a better job than Ariadne." Calli's eyes dropped and when she looked back to Arthur, they were blood shot.

"I'm sorry." She said whipping away tears that were falling. Besides a young man dressed in a very expensive business suit, they were the only two people in the cabin. Arthur stood up and pulled her up as well.

"There's no use in being sorry Calli." He said giving her a hug. "This isn't easy and I understand. I'm sorry we dragged you into this and for how the next couple days are going to unfold. But there is no need for you to be sorry." He felt her take a few deep breaths as her arms loosely coiled around his torso. She was taller than Ariadne and more developed physically which made her more attractive to Arthur. The way she moved, the way she spoke and acted, she already proved to be more mature than her sister. Arthur rubbed her back, and after a moment, she pulled away to look at him and genuinely whispered,

"Thank you." He nodded slightly and rubbed her arm. He let her sit down and he went back to his seat.

"Listen, take a nap and get some rest. You can draw the maze when you feel like it."

"Thanks." She nodded and drifted off to sleep. Once Arthur was sure Calli and the young man were asleep, he made a phone call to Cobb.

"Hello?"

"Cobb, Calli and I are on the plane, we should be there in a few hours."

"Okay. I'm in Southern Washington. You know the place. How's Calli doing?"

"She's not sure that she could do as well as Ariadne. Plus being a mess from what happened, she's not really stable at the moment."

"Did she draw the maze?"

"No. Like I said, she's still in shock."

"Okay. When she's back in the states, have her draw a maze. See how good she is. If she's anything like Ariadne described, she'll be perfect." Arthur nodded and leaned back into the chair.

"Why do you think they went after her first?"

"She might have made a mistake and they found her easily. We never talked to her about how to hide it."

"True. Alright, well when we land it will be late. I'll get us a hotel and stay the night. Calli will be better rested for the trip back in the morning."

"She looks like Ariadne doesn't she?" Cobb asked as he read Arthur's emotion through the phone.

"They're similar, yes, but Calli is more grown up."

"Aren't they a year apart?"

"Yes, but you'll find out tomorrow."

"See you then." Arthur hung up the phone and drifted off to sleep as well.

Arthur's dreams for the past several months had been irregular to say the least. Never a single theme, never a constant person occupied the dream matter. He hadn't been able to dream properly since his very first job with Cobb, but now, there are more pressing issues at hand. There was a young woman at the center of his thoughts and they were being projected in his mind.

He pictured her at his vacation home with him. Her feet dragging across the sand as small shorts reveled her long lean legs. The wind blowing through her long locks of brown curls reveal her exquisite profile as he walks with her and he reaches out for her hand. Her strong beautiful smile is shown for him as she takes it graciously and he feels like a kid again with a first love.

Suddenly, he was woken from the dream by the stewardess offering towels and immigration papers. He looked to see the woman waking Calli as well, but she is keeping her eye contact with him.

Perhaps she had a similar dream as well, even though they weren't experimenting with shared dreaming.

It was about eleven thirty by the time they got a rental car and began to make their way to a hotel. As they waited for information on rooms, they quickly found that the entire hotel was rented out, except for one pent house sweet that they would share for the evening.

"You take the bed, there's a couch in the other room." Arthur said to Calli as they entered the room.

"No, you're paying for the room. Take the bed, I'm used to couch crashing."

"But it is not in my nature to make the lady sleep in such a poor manner. Please, it wouldn't be right if you weren't comfortable."

Calli blushed and smiled as her eyes diverted away from Arthurs for a brief moment.

"And they say chivalry is dead." She smiled and Arthur returned it. "You are to kind for your own good Mr. Dennen. And I thank you for that." She kissed his cheek and made her way into the bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay. I had been on break from school and took some time to see old friends, and I'm slowly getting used to this sight. If there is something that you'd eventually like to see, message me, I'll see what I could do. Or if this isn't what ya'll like, i'll work harder. Promise. Thanks

Chapter 2

Neither Calli nor Arthur could sleep that night. Arthur more in part because he was trying to find out any information he could about Ariadne's sister. Was she a liability? Was she really all that Ariadne thought of her? Was she telling the truth? Calli couldn't sleep because well, she was sharing a room with a man she barley trusted. It didn't matter that Ariadne trusted him; he was still strange to Calli. She was spending most of the night crying anyway. She had every intention of trying to fall asleep again after landing, but the tears were hitting again and she couldn't help it. She tried being as quiet as possible so Arthur could perhaps get some sleep, but when she went to the bathroom to take her contacts out, she saw that he was still awake at the computer.

_If you try to get to know him, maybe it won't be so terrible._ She thought to herself. In all honesty, she didn't think he was necessarily a bad guy. Sure he and her sister did something bad, but one bad deed doesn't define a person. Calli went into the bathroom to change into pajama pants and a tee shirt and take her contacts out. Wash her face and make herself look more relaxed than she was. She pulled her hair back and took a deep breath.

Nothing could hide the fact that her eyes were still blood shot, and her cheeks were still tear stained. If anything, her glasses made it more prominent, and her bangs were pointing to the stains on her cheeks. She couldn't put the contacts back in without the possibility of them falling out, and she opted to wash her face once again to get rid of the red trails. When she deemed herself a little more appearance worthy, she went back out to see Arthur in the same position at the computer.

"Hey." She said quietly, afraid to seriously disturb him.

"Hi." He said surprised she was approaching him. She had been quiet and Arthur thought she might have fallen asleep. It was then that he noticed that she was wearing her glasses, a Breaking Benjamin tee shirt and flannel pants. "I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep. I didn't wake you did I?" He asked worried about the light on the computer, or the noise on the television. He had been watching the news to see if anything had popped up that would lead them into danger. He closed the top of the computer so she wouldn't see that he was doing research on her.

"No, no. I couldn't sleep." She said sitting on the opposite side of the couch. She curled her legs so she was sitting on one and the other was against her chest. She rested her chin on her knee comfortably, and Arthur could see how tiny she was when she was in less than professional clothing. He all of a sudden felt over dressed, and awkward. "Didn't you say you needed me to do something?" She asked remembering what he said on the plane.

"You don't have to do that right now if you'd rather not." He said kindly. She shrugged her shoulders and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"If I'm up, I'm up. What else am I going to do?" She gave him a nervous smile and lowered her eyes. She wasn't exactly sure what this drawing would tell him, but she wasn't going to be able to sleep very soon, and she could use some company. If he would give it to her.

"Okay." He said surprised at her eagerness. He understood the inability to sleep, and if he were in her position, he'd probably be watching mindless television to numb his mind; instead she wanted to expand it a bit. "What I need you to do is take one minute to make a maze that takes me two minutes to solve."

"Okay." She said confused. He handed her a tablet and a pen and she drew a circle and some lines and when he told her to stop, she handed the tablet back. He took a look at it and tried to solve it. Calli was keeping watch on the clock in the kitchen and when two minutes was up, she turned to him and laughed. He had his glasses on and was still not even half way through the maze.

"What does that mean?" She asked to let him know time was up.

"That you are perfect for this job."

"What job? Ariadne's job?" She was seriously confused at this point. Were they trying to replace Ariadne with Callista?

"Well, yes. But you have to understand, it's not exactly everything Ariadne must have told you. She went in to far and that was how she was found. You don't have to go in that deeply at all."

"Why did she then?"

"Because at the time, our boss, Cobb couldn't control a projection of his wife. He lost her about a year before we met your sister and she was somehow able to control Mal when she was in the dream."

"I remember that. Ariadne said that she had to keep reminding her boss that his wife wasn't real anymore."

"And that's why she was recognized. Her name was unique enough to be remembered from a dream, and she was connected to Miles Reed, her teacher at University, who was connected to Cobb."

"So, what's stopping you and Cobb from being caught?"

"Nothing is in our real names. So, technically, this room is under a man named Arthur, just not the Arthur I am."

"So you have false identities."

"Yes."

"And you couldn't tell Ariadne to create one?"

"We didn't expect all the turbulence."

"I'm not okay with this." Calli said pushing her bangs back as a headache was coming on quickly. The idea of running from the law, for something that she wasn't even a part of, was sickening to her. Sure, she had been in trouble as a teenager, but that was for juvenile things. Playing a concert in a park without permission, protesting the use of cosmetics on animals, and of course the multiple detentions that she had through high school were just a few of the types of trouble she was used to.

"I'm sorry, but if they found anything in Ariadne's apartment that pointed to you, you're in as much danger as she was."

"Why would I be in danger? I had nothing to do with this."

"Because she could have let slip that she told you about things, or she wrote it in a diary. You're the closest person to Ariadne. You'd be in trouble whether you met up with us or not."

"This is great." She said rolling her eyes. Arthur stayed stationary looking at her and wondering if she was going to eventually come around to being a part of the team and being used to the lifestyle that they all lived.

"Where did you grow up?" Arthur asked trying to get away from the topic of running from death for the rest of the night.

"Is this part of an interview to see if there's anyone else in danger?"

"No. Just getting to know you a little better." Arthur said slightly hiding behind his glasses. He felt the weight in the couch shift, and he saw her body become less stiff. She shyly smiled and became comfortable in the seat again.

"Scranton Pennsylvania. How bout you?"

"Knox, Maine."

"I think it's safe to say I've never been there." She joked. They continued the night talking comfortably about their past and their present. Arthur learned that she went to Cornell as an undergraduate and to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for graduate school. She spoke French and Italian and she is highly successful in her field. They eventually fell asleep on separate ends of the couch and it was peaceful for the rest of the night.

It was about nine am when Arthur's phone began to ring. It jolted him, and he saw that Calli was still asleep on the other end of the couch. She was curled into a ball and she had her head resting on the arm of the couch. Her glasses were still on her face, but they were askew due to her sleeping movements. Arthur smiled and moved to look for his phone. When he found it, the caller id read Cobb.

"Hello?" He answered politely.

"Hey Arthur. I was just wondering if you were on your way yet." Arthur could tell he was creasing his forehead and pushing his hair back on his head.

"No, not yet. But I'll call you when we're nearby."

"Okay. I'll see you later then." They hung up and Arthur looked back to Calli. She let out a small snore and he gave a little laugh. He didn't want to disrupt her, but they really did need to get moving. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.

"Calli? Calli? Come on, we need to get going." Calli sat up disorientated and saw Arthur above her.

"Oh, hey." She said pulling her bangs off her face. She fixed her glasses and Arthur stood back up.

"We have to get going. Cobb already called to see where we were." Arthur explained putting his hands inside his pockets.

"Oh, okay. I'll be ready in twenty minutes." She said standing up and getting ready.

She went to the bedroom where her bags were and she got changed. She put on a pair of jeans, a blouse and a pair of flats. She brushed through her hair and pulled it into a low pony tail and fixed her makeup.

Arthur took a quick shower and jelled his hair back again and was also ready by the time Calli was ready. He was shocked at how he's only seen her in three outfits and he thinks she's amazingly beautiful. The way her blouse fit on her torso so securely, it accented her curves so well. And the way her hair curled around in the pony tail to sit on her shoulder. He took a deep breath to calm himself and made an excuse to go back into the bathroom.

Calli noticed this and smiled and kept her eyes low. _Maybe this won't be THAT bad._ She decided to keep her observations to herself. Arthur was out of the bathroom about ten minutes later and they checked out of the hotel. They got inside the rental car and they began to make the trip down to Cobb's house. It was almost a two hour drive and Arthur and Calli spent time talking and Arthur let her play with the radio. Usually, Arthur was a little anal about what kind of music was being played in the car, but he let her play what she wanted. She played some rock and roll, and even some sixties and seventies music, which is what he grew up on. His parents being anti war movement people.

Calli laughed at how unnatural he looked while listening to the music she was playing. He tried bobbing his head at the harder guitar shreds, but Calli smiled and turned it down to talk with him.

Once they pulled into the Cobb's driveway, Arthur saw Miles's car, and he must be caring for the children at the moment. Cobb was more than likely inside his office trying to figure something out.

"I was hoping that the kids wouldn't be here." Arthur said to Calli as they grabbed their bags.

"There are kids here?" She asked shocked. "Why would he have his kids with him? Wouldn't it make more sense to leave them with the grand parents or something?"

"Miles is Cobb's mentor though, so he might be helping."

"I don't like this."

"Me either." Arthur knocked on the door and moments later, an older gentleman came to the door with one child in his arm and the other at his side.

"UNCLE ARTHUR!" the children shouted. And he smiled widely. The girl, who was behind Miles, tackled Arthur and the young boy in the old man's arms cheered. Callie smiled as he hugged the two children at his disposal.

"We missed you!" the children cheered. Callie smiled as she watched the man she knew to be all business, get down and greet these two children that weren't even his.

"I missed you too kiddo's. But ya know what? I have to talk to your dad. Is that okay?"

"Will you play with us later?"

"Yes."

"Who's she?" The young girl asked of Callie.

"Hi. I'm Callie." She said kneeling down to say hello to the little girl.

"I like that name." The young boy said.

"Is she your girlfriend?" The little girl asked keeping her eyes at her.

"No. She's just my friend." Arthur laughed almost nervously.

"What's your names?"

"I'm James." He said incredibly energetic.

"I'm Philippa." She said equally happy.

"It's nice to meet you." Callie smiled.

"Now children, let Uncle Arthur and Ms. Callie go speak with your father."

"Thank you Miles." Arthur said as they walked past him as Callie nodded her thanks and found Cobb's office. They opened the door and Cobb was looking at papers on his desk. He lifted his head to see who was disrupting him, and saw that it was Arthur.

"Arthur. It's good that you're here." Cobb stood to greet his old friend, and he noticed the young girl behind him.

"Dominic Cobb, this is Callista Willows, Ariadne's sister."

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm very sorry for your loss." Cobb said shaking her hand.

"Thank you. it's also nice to meet you. Ari spoke highly of you."

"Again, I'm very sorry."

"Thank you."

"Please, sit down." Cobb said motioning towards a few chairs he had there. Arthur and Callie came in and sat down in the chairs as Cobb went behind his desk.

"Callista, I had gotten hold of Eames, he and the police had notified your parents and you can call them any time today to speak with them about arrangements."

Callie nodded, trying to keep her tears back, and focus on the situation at hand. Callie held it back as they all began to speak about what had happened. Arthur told Cobb about how they had found Ariadne and how they traveled for the last night, and how Callie did the maze perfectly the first time.

"Callista, would you be interested in working with us?" Cobb asked looking her in the eye almost desperately.

"What do you mean work with you? Like take Ariadne's job?"

"Technically yes. But if you work with us, you'll have less chance of being found by the people who killed your sister."

"If they killed her because they're trying to get to you, why would I be safer here than on my own?"

"Because I messed up. I never told her that changing her name would be the best idea for her. It is my own fault that she is gone, but I can protect you."

"That's not exactly going to help. I mean, I don't even know what you do, or did to get her killed."

"Don't you want revenge?" Cobb asked. "Don't you want to find out who did this."

"You just said that you're responsible for her death. Why should I get myself mixed up in this, and cause my family more heart ache?"

"Can I just ask you to do one exercise and then decide?" Callie already knew that she wasn't exactly friendly with this Cobb character. But she had a gut feeling that Arthur wouldn't lie to her. She looked over to him to see if he would give her any guidance, and he nodded.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just sleep and design the area."

"What do you mean design the area?"

"Don't worry. It'll come to you inside." Arthur said standing and leading her to the couch that is inside Cobb's office. Cobb got the brief case and as Callie lied down, and Arthur stood with her.

"What do you mean it will come to me inside?"

"What's going to happen, is your mind is going to design an area that you and Cobb can go into. He will enter your dream to see what you can do, and his projections will populate it."

"What's going to happen if projections attack?"

"If they attack, and kill you, you wake up. You're not in any danger. I promise." Callie nodded and lied back as Arthur pulled out the sedative. He injected her and watched as she peacefully went to sleep.

"Are you okay Arthur?" Cobb asked as he pulled Arthur out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're kidding right?" Arthur smirked. "You're right. She kinda looks like Ariadne, but most defiantly your type."

"I have a type?"

"You do if you keep looking at her like you are." Cobb said before injecting himself. Again, Arthur smirked and put five minutes on the timer.

Callie was sitting in a café when Cobb found her. She was dressed in an orange sundress and she wore a large hat as well. Cobb tried to avoid her for a few moments as he perused the area. She had designed the café, a small produce stand, the brick roads of Italy, and the romantic setting that she lived in. He made a note to remind her to not recreate places from memory. To make new places. Eventually, when Cobb was satisfied with the surrounding, he decided to find Callie again.

"Hello Callista." He said finding her back at the café. She turned to him and smiled.

"Hi." She seemed happy in her dream.

"May I sit?"

"Of course Mr. Cobb." Cobb sat down, smiling at the name she called him.

"You know, you could call me Cobb."

"And you could call me Callie." She joked back.

"I'll remember that."

"So, how am I doing?" She asked looking around. The projections were looking at her, but she knew that she was dreaming, and she would have plenty of time to ask questions about the projections when she woke up.

"Is this a real place?"

"No."

"You're doing excellent." Cobb took a sip of the coffee a projection placed next to him. He could taste the Hazelnut flavor in the coffee, and the extra shot of expresso. Usually in dreams, he would pretend to eat when training an architect. But everything seemed so much more real when a designer did it.

"Callie, I know you're not a huge fan of ours right now, but I can guarantee that you will be in better hands. I will teach you EVERYTHING that I know, so that you are safer. You'll be financially set for life. You're the best I've ever seen, and I used to do this job, and be the best. Believe me when I say that we need you." Callie was not afraid to look into his eyes to dig the truth out of him, and after a moment of staring him down, she took a deep breath.

"Fine." Suddenly, Cobb disappeared and everything was beginning to fade. Callie was being pulled out of the dream.


End file.
